NHỮNG ẢNH HƯỞNG của yếu tố văn HOÁ xã hội đối với tên RIÊNG của NGƯỜI ANH và NGƯỜI VIỆT

Take Vietnamese and British personal names as example, when we learn English and its culture, we can find clearly that there are some differences between Vietnamese and English personal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……… i

ABSTRACT ……… ii

LIST OF TABLES ……… iii

LIST OF FIGURES ……… iii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

Rationale 1

Aims of the study 2

Research Questions 2

Method of the study 2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 3

CHAPTER I REVIEW OF LITERATURE 3

1.1 Language, thought and culture 3

1.2 Culture 4

1.3 How to compare two cultures 4

1.4 British and Vietnamese cultural identities 5

1.5 Definitions of personal names and name components 9

1.6 Previous researches on the subject 12

CHAPTER II SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPACTS ON NAMING CUSTOMS WITHIN BRITISH AND VIETNAMESE COMMUNITIES 14

2.1 The procedure and data collection 14

2.2 Data analysis 15

2.3 Discussion 24

2.4 Findings 25

2.5 Table of popular British and Vietnamese personal names and their meanings 29

PART C CONCLUSIONS AND APPLICATIONS ON LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING 32

1 Summary and implication in learning and teaching English 32

2 Suggestions for further study 33

REFERENCES 35

In English 35

In Vietnamese 36 Survey Questionnaire 1 (Vietnamese version) … ……… ……… I Survey Questionnaire 2 (English version) ……… III

PART A: INTRODUCTION

Rationale

In every language, personal names are linguistic objects and complex representations

In addition, personal name is considered as one aspect of culture Many people believe that personal names reflect beliefs, thought of people about the world around them In fact, there have been some scientific experiments which support these beliefs Besides, personal names reflect the concerns and values of a society This is particularly true in many cultures around the world People form a name by exploiting the richness and inventiveness of their language, adapting, combining and re-combining nouns, adjectives and verbs to create new forms reflecting features of their landscape, and the values of their religious, cultural and political life

Especially, a personal name is used to identify individuals, to distinguish sex, to perform aesthetic function, and so on In many cultures, the selection of a child’s name and the presentation of the child to the community are important events Naming children is of great importance to everyone Almost parents take the choosing of names for their children very seriously They want the name they choose to have special significance Because some people believe that a child's name can influence his or her future, it is not only identification, but a way of expressing aspirations and expectations So a name's meaning, how it sounds, and what it suggests to others are all important considerations

However, the idea of personal name varies from country to country, and from person to person Take Vietnamese and British personal names as example, when we learn English and its culture, we can find clearly that there are some differences between Vietnamese and English personal names From my experience and observations, it’s these differences that cause many difficulties to our students

To some extent, the study of personal names can be fascinating and personal name has been an interesting topic for many researchers so far

Therefore, these are the reasons I am so interested in personal names and have been studying on naming traditions in Vietnamese and English culture And SOCIO-CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON BRITISH AND VIETNAMESE PERSONAL NAMES has been chosen as the topic of my study

Aims of the study

The purposes of the research study could be clearly identified as following:

- To provide an interesting picture of the differences and similarities between Vietnamese and English personal names which is considered as one part of culture

- To investigate the influences of socio-cultural factors on English and Vietnamese personal names

- To draw out cross - cultural implication for Vietnamese learners of English when using personal name in formal communication and in learning English

Research Questions

In this study, the following questions are mainly focused on:

1 What are the differences and similarities between British and Vietnamese personal names from socio-cultural perspectives?

2 How do the socio-cultural factors affect the ways of naming a newborn in British and Vietnamese cultures?

Method of the study

To achieve the aims stated, a contrastive analysis (CA) and descriptive method are carried out throughout the study

The sources of information include my knowledge, experience based on being a Vietnamese native; my knowledge of Vietnamese and English language and cultures

I also make use of some works on personal names from Internet and reference books from the library because they are important source that provide comprehensive look at the study

Consultation from the supervisor and other lecturers is the important input for the research Discussion with Vietnamese natives in daily conversation can get more information and more knowledge of the topic

The questionnaire is carried out with English native speakers, Vietnamese native speakers and Vietnamese learners of English Multiple choice and open questions are exploited in the survey Personal interview, mail collection, daily discussions and delivered questionnaires are adopted so that it could help to provide understandings how and why there are differences and similarities in socio-cultural influences on naming a child within the two cultures through Inductive method can be considered the basis for the analysis of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1.1 Language, thought and culture

There is no doubt that language, culture and thought are closely related to each other, the most obvious influence of language and culture on thought is that of vocabulary One

of the best examples to illustrate this relation is the use of word in naming people in different cultures Therefore, it is necessary to look at the relation between language, culture and thought

People who live in different areas of the world have different cultural backgrounds and use different languages Language and culture appear on the surface to be two distinct fields, but they have an intertwined relationship and affect each other mutually Gleason (1961) indicated that languages are not only the products of cultures, but also are the symbols of cultures The development of a language frequently affects its associated culture, and cultural patterns of cognition and custom are often explicitly coded in language

We also know that our ability to use language and our ability to think and conceptualize develop at the same time and these abilities depend on each other Firstly, it is obvious that language is a tool for expressing human thought Each language has a characteristic worldview It reflects the way people think and view the world around them According to the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, “language, culture and thought are all mirrors of each other”

In fact, language and thought are derivatives of cultures Thought itself differs across languages and cultures because languages clearly differ from each other Through language, we can understand people’s thought and language is clearly the representation of human thought Secondly, does language affect human thought? The answer is yes According to George Yule (1996- 246), we can only think in the categories which our language allows us to think Take the example, if two languages seem to have very different ways of describing the way the world is, it is possible that when you learn one of those language, the way your language is organized will determine how you perceive the world being organized

1.2 Culture

According to Condon (1973), culture can be defined as a way of life No matter where people live, their behaviors and thoughts follow and are generally based on their own cultures Culture has many different dimensions It includes ideas, customs, skills, arts and tools that characterize group of people in a given period; it is also the beliefs, values, and material objects that create our way of life Culture establishes a context of cognitive and affective behavior for each person It influences individual estimation and attitudes, and can have an effect on practical aspects of life such as hobbies

Culture is also a matter of habit, and it is habit that becomes tradition and tradition that gives rise to culture Local people begin with habitual actions and go on to create common stereotypes Condon further explained that stereotypes assign group characteristics to individual purely on the basis of their cultural membership The cultural stereotypes affect how people think, speak, act, and interact with one another Samovar, Porter, and Jain (1981) also stated that culture and communication are inseparable because culture not only dictates who talks to whom, about what, and how the communication proceeds, but also helps to determine how people encode messages, the meanings they have for messages, and the conditions and circumstances under which various messages may or may not be sent, noticed, or interpreted In a word, culture is the foundation of communication Without culture, we cannot understand the lives and motivations of others and connect with their concerns and interests Culture is inherent in our being and a powerful human tool to develop our society, add to our knowledge, and establish the relationships between people However, culture is fragile The traits of culture are constantly changing and easily lost If we do not value it, we will lose it eventually

Learning about culture is absolutely enriching The more one knows others, the more she sees her own culture more clearly.” By learning about contrasts, we can better understand how culture influences individuals and their communication with others” (Nguyen Quang, p 5)

1.3 How to compare two cultures

According to Robert Lado (1957), we cannot hope to compare two cultures unless we have more accurate understanding of each of the cultures being compared We must be able to eliminate the things we claim to do but actually don't do We must be able to

describe the things we do without being conscious of doing them, and we must make sure

we are able to describe practices accurately, not haphazardly or ideally And we must be able to describe the situations in which we do what we do

The author of Linguistics across cultures also gave a definition of culture that can be useful in guiding cultural comparisons It is stated that, “Cultures are structured systems of patterned behavior” (p 40) that “have form, meaning, and distribution” (p 41) This definition acknowledges that cultural patterns are systematic and shared, that they express culture-specific meaning and that they differ according to such variables as gender, age, ethnicity, race, education, power, income, religion, region, and other social and geographic variables, and that cultural patterns can change over time

When comparing a linguistic phenomenon in terms of culture, we do not only mention

or present it but also analyze the similarity as well as the differences between them so as to understand, and then use the language the most appropriately CA in cultures aimed to compare culture phenomenon in languages, which are English and Vietnamese personal names in this study

1.4 British and Vietnamese cultural identities

British cultural identities

Britain is a country with defined boundaries, a recognizable landscape, a long history, and a position in the various international economic, social, and political league tables It is comprised of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland It is important not only to be aware of these geographical distinctions, but also the strong sense

of identity and nationalism felt by the populations of these four nations

The terms 'English' and 'British' do not mean the same thing 'British' denotes someone who is from England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland 'English' refers to people from England People from Scotland are 'Scots', from Wales ‘Welsh’ and from Northern Ireland

‘Irish’

In the past few decades, people from varied backgrounds have had greater access to higher education, wealth distribution is changing but the British class system still exists although in a more subconscious way Class is no longer simply about wealth or where one lives; the British are able to find out someone’s class through a number of complex

variables including the way a person behaves towards others, their accent, manners and attitudes…

The British Isles has over-time incorporated other cultures into their own The British Isles has traditionally been colonized by immigrants, though it has not been invaded for approx a thousand years The sights of many of their major towns were decided by the Romans as were our roadways The judicial system of twelve jurors and a judge comes from Northern Europe The Celtic romantic image comes from a body of people who invaded these shores before the Romans The pageantry they have was probably brought

by the Normans Some of the best music they have was brought by mixing with and listening to the Caribbean rhythms and American-African blues The English language is a hybrid of Latin, Greek, French, Flemish and Germanic tongues…

Moreover, since World War II, the UK has been an ethnically diverse country with people from various origins because of a large number of immigrant populations, particularly from its former colonies such as India, Pakistan and the West Indies The mixture of ethnic groups and cultures make it difficult to define “Britishness” nowadays According to Storry, M.(1997),nationality is a matter of allegiance and cultural affiliation

It has also been argued that nationality is no longer a powerful force in Britain, that it is simply a matter of circumstance, and that today it is far less significant than local or global identities: relatives, friends, and communities are more important to them and so is transnational culture

Christianity is the major religion with many Christian churches, denominations, and groups Many other religions have also established a presence in the UK , mainly through immigration, though also by attracting converts After Christianity and the irreligious those religions with the most adherents are various forms of Islam and Hinduism Other faiths include Jedi, Sikhism, Judaism, Buddhism, Rastafarianism and Neopaganism There are also organizations which promote rationalism, humanism, and secularism

The British are very reserved and private people Privacy is extremely important They rarely want to express their feelings, emotions to strangers Especially they would prefer to keep silent in the public areas; they never talk on the bus, the train and so on Another typical characteristic of the British is modesty, they don’t like to show off themselves and modesty is highly appreciated The British also have the sense of humor and they hate to

laught at others’ mistakes The British are exeptionally famous for their country ethos

“England was at heart a rural country which had a country ethos” (J.B Priesley)

Vietnamese cultural identities

Vietnamese culture is the fruit of thousands of years of creative labor and the indomitable struggle for national construction and protection by the multi-ethnic Vietnamese community It is also the result of our exchanges with and inheritance from world culture Vietnamese culture has built the soul, character, and abilities of the Vietnamese people It has helped to glorify our national history

The Vietnamese’s typical characteristics include: a strong hearted patriotism, closeness

to their homeland (especially as home, village and country); collectivism; diligence and industriousness; good patience; good relationship with their surroundings; flexible behavior, good adaptability and integration

The salient characteristic of the Vietnamese is sentimentalism in relationships between people and people, people and nature; the behavior and responsibility towards the next generation is expressed in their involvement in charitable causes

The majority Vietnamese live on wet rice cultivation, therefore agriculture is of utmost importance in the traditional social structure or in the culture of community organization

To Vietnamese people, family tradition is very important A traditional family is one in which the home is tidy and relations are hierarchical All members of a family have to respect each other, the young respecting the old and the old making concessions to the young Everybody always gets along well with each other Children must be well behaved, have good characteristics, and set a good example for and be loved by other members of their families and communities Today, this traditional pattern continues to be transmitted from one generation to the next For many years, Vietnamese people believe that family is the social microcosm from which people originate the "cradle of peace" that is a foundation for all future interactions Without a traditional family hierarchy or force of nation, society would risk losing its order and structure

The role of a mother in a family is the most important, with the father making the next most important contribution A well-known Vietnamese proverb (phúc c t i m u) means that children's luck in life depends on the education or sacrifices of their mothers

Nevertheless, under the old feudalist system, men were well respected People said

“Nh t nam vi t h u th p n vi t vô” This meant that ten daughters were not equal to one son, or that one son was more valuable than ten daughters were The reason for this is that

at one time in Vietnam (when it was a backward agricultural nation), nearly all people worked manually to cultivate rice In this economy, "manpower" (strength) was crucial to the success of each harvest, and men were the breadwinners because as a group, they tended to be physically stronger than women are Of course, this opinion is now outdated Religion has exerted a deep influence on Vietnamese culture and the Vietnamese concept of life The attitude towards life, death, and the world beyond bears a deep imprint

of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism Regarding religious terms, there are no religious beliefs turning into religions in Vietnam Major religions in Vietnam originally came from abroad The folk religious beliefs in Vietnam were formed a long time ago and play a vital role in the cultural life of the agricultural community The Vietnamese folk religious beliefs may be divided into three groups:

Animism: Animism is quite popular in most of the cultures in the world The Vietnamese people live on wet rice cultivation; therefore, their belief of worshipping nature is connected to their profession Wet rice cultivation depends much upon natural factors which ignite the belief of worshiping groups of gods Agricultural culture inclines toward yin; they tend to feminize all natural gods They are not young beautiful women but they are Bà (old ladies) and M u (mothers)

Genitalia Worship: Genitalia Worship expresses the desire of the growth of the human beings and things They worship male and female reproductive organs and sexual intercourse There are some forms of Genitalia worship: Reproductive organs worshipping belief: They worship natural or man-made columns/pilasters (male) and hallow, cave, canyon (female); cross bow (male) and bamboo tray (female); linga (male) and yoni (female) Sexual intercourse worshipping belief: The agricultural culture highlights the relationships in nature, the sexual intercourse worshipping belief is, therefore, quite unique and popular in Vietnam as well as South East Asia We can easily find this religious belief

in traditions, festivities and art For examples: the reproductive organs procession in Bac Ninh, Ha Tay and Phu Tho the statues of four couples having sexual intercourse on Dao Thinh bronze jar, decorations on the Dong Son bronze drum

Human-revering belief: They worship people’s souls As other ethnic groups in South East Asia, the Vietnamese believe that there is a soul and body in each human being It is believed that being alive is yang and being dead is yin Human-revering belief is to hold a commemorative anniversary for the deceased.

There are some forms of human-revering belief: The ancestor worship, the worship of the God of Home, the worship of the ancestors of professions, the worship of the Prosperity, the worship of the Fairy, the worship of the God of the village, the worship of the Four Immortal Gods: namely God Tan Vien (preventing flooding), God Giong (a legendary three-year old boy who became a national hero in the struggle against foreign invaders), God Chu Dong Tu (bright example in industrious labor to build a happy and prosperous life from dire plight and poverty) and Goddess Lieu Hanh (heavenly princess who left Heaven for the earth in the yearning for happiness)

In fact, although most of the major religions of the world, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity have been introduced to Vietnam at different stages of its history, the above folk religious beliefs still play a very important part in spiritual life of the Vietnamese all the time Especially, ancestor worship is the most constant and deeply rooted belief by the Vietnamese people In addition to the metaphysical aspect of believing

in existence after death, ancestor worship is understood by the Vietnamese people as moral behavior

To sum up, the Vietnamese religious beliefs represents: respect and a strong relationship between human beings and nature, the significance of yin-yang philosophy, Incline femininity and represent a strong sense of community

1.5 Definitions of personal names and name components

Personal name is a word or a group of words used to refer to a person so that he or she can be distinguished from the others It is nearly universal for a person to have a name It is usually given at birth or at a young age, and is usually kept throughout life; there might be additional names indicating family relationships, area of residence, and so on

Generally, a personal name includes given name (first name), surname (family name), middle name, and many people also have their nick names which are normally used at home or among close people

A surname – family name or last name is a name used by all members of a family Surname is the part of a person’s name that indicates to what family he or she belongs In fact, most surnames pass from father, however in some cases from mothers to their children

Crowther and Kawanagh (2005) stated that: the surnames sometimes reflect the origin

of the family and many people are able to research their family history over many centuries I think that the author’s remark is interesting and valuable To my knowledge, most surnames of British and American reflect: Occupation (Smith, Baker, Archer); Geography (Hill, Wood, Fields); Place name (London, Hamilton) and so on The names Bishop, Priest, or Abbot usually indicate that an ancestor worked for a bishop, a priest, or

an abbot, respectively

In some culture such as English and American, people rarely change their surnames except after marriage Traditonally, women change their surname when they marry, repalcing their maiden name, the surname they had from birth, with the surname of their hasband In English-speaking countries, married women traditionally have been called Mrs [Husband's full name], although in recent times they are often called Mrs [Wife's first name] [Husband's surname]

A given name is a name which specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name However, it happens that some brothers or sisters carry the same given name,

so they can be distinguished with their middle names: Ng c Linh, Mai Linh and Tu n Linh, etc In some cultures, the mother and father name the baby; in others, the grandparents make the decision In Greece, baby names are often decided by godparents (special friend chosen by parents) Babies may be named after a friend, relative, or a famous person, and so on

Another point about given names is that almost of names are gender specific A number

of certain names are for girls, some others for boys For example, names like : Jack, Thomas, Charlie, Joshua (British) and Công, H ng, Danh, Trung, and Tu n (Vietnamese) are normally for boys meanwhile Grace, Olivia, Jessica, Rubby (British) and H nh, Tiên,

Tuy t, Y n, Lan (Vietnamese) are for girls Some names like Ph ng, Linh, Ng c, Minh, Bình are for ether gender

To many people, a first name is more than one word to name; it is first of all emotion, feeling It is transmission of love, the child, commonly admitted, is the fruit of a love Middle name is a name between the given name and surname In some western cultures, the middle name is used to distinguish two people having the same first and last name However, in some countries like Vietnam, a middle name does usually indicate the gender Th (for female) and V n, ình, H u (for male) were commonly used to differentiate between the two genders However they are no longer used by many people today Usually, a middle name makes a personal name more beautiful and it can glorify an individual’ fame There have been many famous families whose last names and middle names affirm their hi-born social status like Tôn Th t and Nguy n Lân, H c In the

US, the middle name is rarely used on official documents and the middle initial is used on most identity documents, passport, university diploma, for example: George W Bush; John F Kennedy, and so on

The order of name components also varies from culture to culture [Given name + family name] is known as the western order and is used in the Americas and Europe For example, Tony Blair would have the given name (Tony) going first, and then the family name (Blair) However, in East Asia (for example in Japan, China, Korea and Vietnam), and also in Hungary, the given names traditionally come after the family name regardless the gender: Nguy n Ng c Minh - Nguy n (surname), Ng c (middle name) and Minh (given name) Many people think that this order of name components indicates that the Vietnamese highly appreciate the family values According to Macdonald (1999) this is an indication that naming system reflects essential values and important traits in their respective social organization

Another interesting point is that in some countries (normally Asian countries like China

or Vietnam) names also carry a powerful force Tradition claims that evil spirits like to steal babies, particularly the attractive ones Therefore in some parts of Vietnam, after a baby is born, the parents often chooses a meaningless, ugly name for him or her so that the use of an ugly name is intended to warn off the devil This ugly name is widely used among family members, relatives, and neighbors Indeed many children do not use their official name until they go to school for the first time when they are six years old In small communities, these nicknames can be kept for life Examples of such unpleasant names are

Leaf, Bark, Root, and even Bucket However, this belief is not common nowadays As far

as I know, there is not the phenomenon in British naming customs

1.6 Previous researches on the subject

Name is a special culture to everyone Different names are given based on different reasons It is also one of the most interesting subjects in the field of social-cutural anthropology I’ve read some works that made direct and indirect references to the subject from different point of view I can also get a lot of useful information as well as interesting ideas from them, thereinafter are some useful statements:

In concerning about the functions of a personal names, Macdonald (1999) states that it has two main functions: The first function is enabling individuals to possess a singular identity, a label that makes them unique and can be used to identify them while speaking about them (reference) and while speaking to them (speaking to them (address) The second function is qualifying the individual usually by incorporating him/her in a class

or group, sometimes on the basis of a quality, virtue, or some other trait

One must see both functions as the foundations of a theory of personal names Function 1 is obvious There is a need to identify members of a group and no human society lacks this kind of device Function 2 is less obvious It is the expression of a basic need –which is universal- to add a dimension to naming which makes the name “personal” (instead of being the name of a thing)

According to according to Hoang Tue (1984), there are two main functions of personal names: semantic function and social function Dao Tien Thi (2005) added one more function that is the function of preserving cultural values because personal names reflect some features of nature, customs as well as the worldview of people in most cultures Roger Darlington (2006) stated that personal names define on large who we are, how

we are perceived and even how we perceive ourselves In daily communication, when we meet someone new, the first thing that we want to tell the person about our self is our name, also the first thing we want to know about him/ her is his/ her name In the author’s point of view, at a societal level, names can tell us so much about gender, religion, class, nationality and ethnic origin

Recently, in Vietnam, there’re also some works, articles discussing the meaning of personal name Dao Tien Thi (2002) states that Vietnamese names mostly have meanings

meanwhile English and American names have no meaning or the meaning of their names is not transparent His research has been controversial so far

Besides, other researchers such as Crowther and Kawanagh (2005) Pastor (2006) David Nunan (2001) have their own ideas and statement on the term To some extents, these studies provide a lot of useful and interesting knowledge of personal names of many cultures in the world However, there’s still a quite little attempt in studying socio-cultural influences on personal names among Vietnamese and British communities

So far, we have discussed the notion of personal names and some previous researches into the cultural phenomenon This knowledge will help us with understanding the terms related to personal name and give us a closer look at the subject we are focusing The following section is the methodology of investigating British and Vietnamese personal names from socio-cultural perspectives The data of the study will be collected by some commonly used methods such as survey questionnaire, personal interview, daily group discussion The Findings will be presented in the chapter following

CHAPTER II SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPACTS ON NAMING CUSTOMS

WITHIN BRITISH AND VIETNAMESE COMMUNITIES

2.1 The procedure and data collection

As being mentioned in part I, there are delivered questionnaires (written in English and Vietnamese with equivalent values) consist of seven questions which discuss naming practice within the two communities (includes the meaning, the importance, and the trends

in giving personal name ) It should be noted that the survey questionnaire are designed to deal with the two research questions highlighted in part I Therefore, all of them are aimed

to find out some differences and similarities in naming a child and major influences of socio and cultural factors on personal names in Vietnamese and British cultures

The informants are asked to tick the appropriate choice There is also a blank space at the end of each question in which the respondents are free to give their own opinion Besides, they are requested to tick the parameters chosen among age, gender, marital status, and occupation, place of living, foreign language competence that could help us have a clear look and draw appropriate conclusions on the cultural phenomenon

The English versions are delivered to get the idea of the British also the Vietnamese ones are designed to see how Vietnamese people respond to the questions 50 questionnaires delivered and selected from the Vietnamese who live in the North and the Centre of Vietnam are compared and analyzed together with 50 copies from the British who are from England, Wales, Scotland and North Ireland

The age of the informants varies from 17 to 60 at the time of the survey Their jobs are various: teacher, students, lawyers, businessman, managers, doctors and farmers All of them spend more time living in the city than the countryside 45% of the informants are male, 55% female

All the data are collected and analyzed from socio-cultural perspectives To get information from British informants, the researcher sends the questions in English by email

to an English friend who is enthusiastic enough to deliver these questions to the right informants Besides, the two common methods: face-to-face interviews, daily discussion (mostly with Vietnamese participants) are also conducted to get more information When discussing or interviewing the participants, the researcher uses not only the survey questionnaire but also some open questions related to the subjects such as: Does your

name have any special significance to you and your family?/ What is the meaning of your name in your culture? Or: Do you think that a person name can make an effect on one’s characteristics or his future? and so on

2.2 Data analysis

In this part all the questions in the questionnaire are shown worked one by one in order from 1 to 7 so that it could be easier for the analysis The analysis is carried out carefully and is done basing on the data collected from the above-mentioned informants The results received from the survey questionnaire, daily group discussion and interviews are reliable

Question 1: In your opinion, naming a person in your culture is:

Data in English

58%

Very important Important Neutral

Figure 1: The importance of naming custom in Vietnamese and British culture

This question is made to find out the importance of naming a newborn to British and Vietnamese people Of all the Vietnamese informants being asked, 65% agree that naming

a child is very important 35% says it is important and none of them chooses neutral The question is delivered to those who are lawyers, engineers, teachers and managers, secretary even farmers Especially, the ages of those who fall into the first group range from 28 to over 60, and they already have children or are going to have a newborn The other group belongs to those who are students, single Generally, the Vietnamese agree that name of a person plays an important part in the whole life and they have to take much time, thoughts

to choose a good name for a child

Meanwhile, English informants can be devided into three groups 22% of them consider naming to be one of the most important events in a person’s life in British culture;

at least it used to be For them, naming could help with tracing bloodlines 58% of the informants choose important, they explain that naming can give indication of your ethnic origin, class However, there is 20% of the informants say they don’t mind about naming custom It is explained by these respondents that parents have to give name to their child because of legal requirement to register the birth of the child and to give it a name to call There are not any explanations like this of Vietnamese informants in concerning the importance of naming a child

Both the British and Vietnamese have similar and different reasons to say it is very important or important Vietnamese informants think of the need to express parent’s hope, love, and knowledge to their beloved child when giving it a name much more than other reasons British informants pay more attention to the role of naming child in connection with religion and origins The Vietnamese and British parents say they have to take time to think, to go through name books when they are having a baby to get ideas and choose a name for the baby

Question 2: Do you agree that almost British/ Vietnamese personal names have meaning?

In this question, the informants are requested to discuss the meanings of personal names in their native languages and cultures They may choose: Agree, disagree or may give their own opinion Many Vietnamese and British choose to give their idea to clarify their choice

It’s not unusual when 90% Vietnamese say agree to the question, 10% say that the meaning of a personal name depends the giver’s background and where he lives most of his time People who live in the city think much more about name’s meaning than those in the countryside In my own observation and experience, whenever there is a birth, great thoughts go into the name for the newborn in Vietnam nowadays regardless where and who you are

The result from Vietnamese informants is a little different from that of British informant Of 50 British ones, there’s about 73% choose agree It means most British given names – like given name in any language – do indeed have meanings Only 8% say

Disagree or not totally agree, they think that British parents don’t usually pick the child’s name for its meaning but they choose it because it goes well with their surname or it sounds nice; sometimes they name their children after someone they admire

The last group of English respondents (makes up 19%) who make the remark: Originally, yes, but generally not today They state that British names used to be meaningful in a medieval form of a living language, People rarely think about the given name’s meaning to day

Data in English

73%

Agree Disagree Others

Figure 2: The meaning of personal names

Question 3: What are the functions of personal names in daily life? (You can choose more than one item)

Everyone needs a name not only for the legal requirement but also for many other reasons related to cultural and societal factors After many thoughts, discussions, parents may choose a good name for their beloved baby What are the functions of personal names? Why must we carry a name? The answers may be various, different from culture to culture and of course, personal name may have more than one function to many people The result collected from survey questionnaire, interview and discussion seems to be amazingly different

According to most of British participants, personal names play the role of identifying individuals and distinguishing sex Of 50 selected answers, nearly one thirds of them choose Reflecting beliefs and hopes, preferences There is a small proportion for the